Updated: December 31, 2012, 8:43 am ET

Carlisle: Don’t Analyze Dirk Nowitzki Yet

By HOOPSWORLD
Basketball News & NBA Rumors

When Dirk Nowitzki was sidelined for the first 27 games of the 2012-13 season while recuperating from knee surgery, the nightly question was: When’s he going to be back?

Now, he’s been back for a week and three games, and the nightly question is: When is Dirk going to play like Dirk?

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle urged everyone to exercise patience, which is a little difficult for fans when their team is 12-18 with a five-game losing streak.

“There shouldn’t be any evaluation until at least the middle of January,” Carlisle said before the Mavericks-Spurs game Sunday. “I don’t think anybody should analyze anything. This is a tedious process. And he’s not just back right now to play the games. He’s back to get his career to the point where he can play a few more years.”

via Jan Hubbard of ESPN Dallas

Your comments are important to us, so please share your thoughts. We will be rolling out prizes and giveaways for our active Commenters. Please keep the comments above board and respectful to everyone and you could win some great stuff from us at HOOPSWORLD.